Body of infant swept away in Harvey floodwaters recovered

KHOU.com , KHOU6:57 PM. EDT September 05, 2017

Crews worked for days to find the body of a baby girl who was swpet away from her parents' arms in the flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Photo courtesy Punkin-Evergreen Fire Department member Kelsey Schneider.

Stevens and other volunteers from the Punkins-Evergreen Fire Department had been summoned to assist with another rescue at Winters Bayou when they heard screams for help from the baby's parents, about a hundred feet across the water.

"They were in about 40 feet of water in a tree top," Stevens said. "It took about three hours to get to them."

The couple had managed to get their 6-month-old daughter out of the pickup, but couldn't hold her against the rushing water.

"They were trying to get to the tree and hold on with the baby and the current swept the baby away," Stevens said.

Stevens said the parents were fleeing Houston, driving Highway 150 during the night with their daughter, trying to get to Louisiana.

"We do have the mother and the father at a location undisclosed right now," he said.

Late on Tuesday, Aug. 29, firefighters located the pick-up truck.

They spent several days searching for the baby girl. Officials from several law enforcement agencies helped in the search.

On Tuesday, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the body of the baby girl had been found.

Texas Department of Public Safety officers found the baby's body while they were responding to a crash scene. The baby was about 100-150 yards downstream where her parents reported she was swept out of their arms.